Manifolding stationery



Dec. 15, 1959 F. a. DIESBACH MANIFOLDING STATIONERY Filed May 28, 1958 INVENTOR. 1W MM.

A TTOQNEY- MANIFOLDING STATIONERY Frederick B. Diesbacli, Hamilton, Ohio, assignor to Paul Benninghofen and F. B. Diesbach, both of Hamilton, Ohio, trustees Application May 2 8 1958, Serial No. 738,48?

1 Claim; (Cl- 2823) This invention relates to manifolding stationery which is used in autographic registers to make multiple copies of sales transactions. This stationery usually consists of three or more superimposed strips of printed forms which are divided into sets by perforated tear lines which extend across the superimposed strips at regular intervals between printed forms. Typically the stationery is sold as a packet, or flat pack as this term is used in the trade, in which the sets of forms are folded in zig -zag fashion to make a stack of convenient size. In an autographic register, the sets of forms are fed successively from a storage compartment, usually located under the writing platen, onto the writing platen where they may be written upon to record sales transactions. The completed forms are then discharged from the register, the discharged set of forms being torn from the succeeding set in each instance. Provision must be made, either as a part of the register or as a part of the forms, to transfer writing from the uppermost form onto the other forms of each set while it is on the writing platen. The present invention is directed to the latter type of provision; that is, the transfer medium, which is ordinary carbon paper in this case, is provided as part of the flat pack of stationery. I I

This disclosure is made in relation to manifolding stationery designed for use in a portable autographic register of the type disclosed in copend'ing patent application Serial No. 738,488, filed May 28, 1958. It will be apparent, however, that the principles of the invention are applicable to packets of manifolding stationery designed for use with other types of autographic registers, including crank operated registers which are placed upon a counter and which usually remain in one place as contrasted with the small, portable registers which are carried from place to place as sales books are carried to record sales.

The primary objective of the invention has been to speed up and simplify the loading of an autographic register, and particularly a portable autographic register. In the past, the replenishing of the supply of manifolding forms in an autographic register has entailed the time consuming and rather tedious operation of interleaving sheets of carbon paper with the individual forms of the uppermost set as it is being placed on the writing platen. A number of things have to be taken into consideration in this operation. The sheets of carbon paper have to be securely anchored in place so that they are not displaced as the forms are fed past them. Provision must be made to protect the forms from being torn by the lines of perforations of oncoming forms, and the sheets of carbon paper must be smoothed out to prevent fold lines which would otherwise interfere with writing.

It has been the usual practice in the loading of one type of portable autographic register to use thin metal strips, or the like, to hold the individual sheets of carbon paper in place. These strips are longer than the forms are wide so as to project beyond the opposite side edges of the forms. To both anchor the carbon paper in place and to protect it from being torn by the perforated lines in on- States ice coming forms, the end of each sheet of carbon paper which is to be toward oncoming forms is folded around or otherwise engaged with a holding strip. In the loading of the register this has entailed a considerable amount of time, because it requires that each sheet be folded, then engaged with a strip, and then the strip fastened in place in the autographic register. Thus, to load a register with stationery having only three forms ineach set, the lowermost form of the first set is placed on thewriting platen, a first sheet of carbon paper is folded and thenengaged on a strip, and then the strip isfastened in place in the register. The next form is then laid in place, and the folding and fastening operation repeated. After this, the uppermost form is laid in place and theregister closed, ready to record the next sales transaction; Howev er, portable autographic registers, being small, are not designed to carry a very large supply of stationery andthis operation must be repeated quitefrequently. v Quite often it must be done while a customer is waiting which is annoying. Then too, the handling of the carbon paper for loading purposes is a messy operation, because the waxy coating stains the operators fingers. w i v In another type of portable autographic register and in anumber of the larger counter top registers, the carbon paper has been provided in rolls. Usually, the roll is mounted at one side of the writing platen. The loading proceeds as previously described with the lowermostform of the first set being placed upon the writing platen and then the first sheet of carbon paper drawn from the roll and placed on top of it, the successive form then being laid in place with sheets of carbon paper in between them. One of the difficulties encountered in the loading of an autographic register utilizing roll type carbon is that the carbon paper takes a set while in the roll, and it is difficult to smooth out the individual sheets and maintain them in smooth condition while the forms are being laid in place U I In the stationery of this invention the sheets of carbon paper are already inplace, being interleaved'with the forms of the uppermost set, andtheyare so arranged that when the uppermost set of forms is placed on the writing t n; t he t f sa p p r a e au omatica y gripped and held in place by the mere act of closing the lid of the register. Furthermore, thesheets of carbon paper are stretched taut during the closing of the register which insures that there are no wrinkles and that the edges of thecarbon paper sheets toward oncoming forms are stretched tightly. It has been found that this simple expedient of tightly stretching or tensioning the edges of the carbon paper toward oncoming forms, prevents these edges from becoming caught by the lines of perforations in the forms; and, thus, no additional protective measure such as the anchoring strips employed in the past are required.

Other objectives and advantages of the manifolding stationery of this invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a semi-diagrammatic, perspective view of a packet of forms incorporating the principles of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

The manifolding stationery disclosed in the drawings consists of a plurality of sets of forms which are folded in zig-zag fashion to provide a fiat pack, designated generally by the numeral 10. As shown, each set of forms includes a first sheet 11, a second sheet 12 and a third sheet 13. Following conventional practices each set of forms includes two apertures 1414 adjacent to the head end thereof, which pass through all three forms of the set, these apertures cooperating with feeding and aligning mechanism in the autographic register for which the stationery is intended. The specific type of feed aperture has no bearing upon the invention.

In the pack, the forms are defined onefrom the other by perforated tear ofl lines (not shown) which extend across the stationery at the fold *lines designated 15. This is also a conventional practice.

The invention is concerned primarily with the uppermost set of forms of the pack, and the size of the pack, that is, the number of sets of forms, is not particularly critical, being based upon practical considerations and the capacity of the particular autographic register for which the pack is intended. The number of individual forms Within each set is not critical, here again the limits being established by what is practical and the intended use of the forms. In the instance shown, the forms are lined as shown in Figure 2 for recording sales transactions. Obviously the lining or printing employed is also dependent upon the intended use of the forms.

As shown, two sheets of carbon paper 16 and.17 are interleaved between the three forms comprising the up permost set. Each sheet of carbon paper is substantially wider than the forms to provide two substantially wide marginal edges 18 and 19 which overhang the sides of the forms in the pack as shown in Figures 1 and 4. Preferably the sheets of carbon paper are held in place against lateral shifting movement by folding the marginal side edges 18 and 19 down along lines designated 20-20, which are coextensive with the sides of the uppermost set of forms. The sheets of carbon paper are prevented from shifting toward the right as shown in Figure 1 by the fold line where the top set of forms joins the second set of forms in the pack. The sheets of carbon paper do not extend into the apertured, head end of the forms, stopping short of this area as shown in Figure 2, and preferably the sheets of carbon paper are prevented from shifting toward the head end or to the left as shown by fastening the three sheets 11, 12 and 13 together in this area. It is preferred that the fastening be a temporary one so that the three sheets can be separated easily after they have been discharged from the autographic register. In the present instance, the sheets are fastened together in the areas designated 21-21 adjacent opposite side edges by means of a device known as a Paper Welder which is the subject of US. Patent No. 2,188,222. This device crimps the paper, and in doing so, it entangles some of the fibers of one sheet with some of the fibers of the adjacent sheet, providing a temporary bond which may be broken without difficulty when the sheets are separated. It will be apparent that any other commonly known means may be employed to fasten the three sheets together such as stapling, gluing, pinning or by means of spots of pressure sensitive adhesive. The only limitation upon the expedient employed is that it prevent the sheets of carbon paper from slipping from the end of the uppermost set of forms in the direction of the free edges.

Reference to copending patent application Serial No. 738,488, filed May 28, 1958, will show how the free marginal edges 18 and 19 of the carbon paper cooperate with the autographic register structure of the copending application to securely hold the sheets of carbon paper in place in stretched condition.

It may be seen therefore that the invention provides an inexpensive flat pack of manifolding stationery in which the transfer medium is incorporated in the upper most set of forms, and in which the transfer medium, comprising inexpensive sheets of ordinary carbon paper is held in place with parts thereof exposed for cooperation with the autographic register structures.

Having described my invention, I claim:

Prepacked manifolding stationery and carbon paper for loading into an autographic register comprising, a plurality of sets of superimposed forms which are folded in zig-zag fashion between sets of forms to provide a flat pack, sheets of carbon paper prearranged in interleaving relationship with the forms of the uppermost 'set of the pack, said sheets of carbon paper being wider than the forms to provide substantially wide marginal edges which project beyond the opposite side edges of the pack, said marginal edges being folded down along lines which are coextensive with the opposite side edges of the uppermost set of forms in the pack to prevent sidewise movement of the sheets of carbon paper, said sheets of carbon paper being shorter than said forms and arranged in the pack in contact with the transverse folds between the uppermost set of forms and the next set of forms in the pack to prevent shifting of the carbon paper toward said folds, and means fastening the forms of the uppermost set together adjacent to the free ends of these forms to prevent shifting of the carbon paper toward said free ends, whereby said stationery and carbon paper may be loaded into an autographic register as an integral unit.

Schroeder June 19, 1934 Hibbs Jan. 23, 1940 

